Thoughts on Thinking

“Why is this so hard to understand? Our perceptions are flawed, don’t impress that upon reality. Sheesh!”—Steve Ruiz

The illusion is simply that reality is not what it seems to be at first glance—even after inspection. That same flawed perception leads us to believe we can correct it by saying the world is divisible into feet and inches, seconds and degrees—dividing things by regular measurement and the dividing power of thought—The same nature of thought that implies we don’t understand, but somehow can trust the measuring devices we’ve thought up—while every thing requires continued re-examination after interfering by looking—weird

Think is a unit of thought, the same way an inch is a measurement of accepted distance, or a clock can track intervals. We categorize things into boxes so we can manage “the think” about them, pretending then that the world is a collection of bits and catagories, yet is as connected and inter-related as much as a human body. Every single bit is as unexplainable as any other—and to explain one fully we must explain everything fully.

Every perception is real (normal) from a particular point of view, though some truth is a little nastier at heart than others. Imagine how distasteful the world would really be, if believers still knew with a surety that the gospel of saving souls from hell should know no limits to persuasion.

For giggles we have to ask—if reality is so illusory (not what it appears to be) how could humans evolve with our perceptive reality apart from “real” reality? If our perceptions of reality are flawed, how could natural selection point evolution the way things seem to be, versus the true nature of nature? How could brains evolve to a non natural interpretation of things? It’s almost like it is some type of game…

The Participants Have Become the Watchers

Very little living is now actually living life by experience. The philosophy that all the world is a stage, participants in a never ending play of the cosmos, has resorted to watching tv.

The average adult 18 and older spends four hours a day watching TV or Netflix types, and those over 65 watch nearly seven hours a day (so much for that anticipated retirement)

On the other hand, the total number of people who use YouTube is 1.3 billion. 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Almost 5 billion videos are watched on Youtube every single day. In an average month, 8 out of 10 18-49 year-olds watch YouTube. Combine this with 8 hours of sleeping, eating, and getting ready for work, when do we find time for life?

Sitting in front of a glass screen, watching others live life or represent the drama in some fashion instead of living? Indoor sterility—you can’t touch it, smell it, or taste it. If the Hindu philosophy of life being a drama of watchers and participants were true, the watchers are now watching the participants watch, where they spend the bulk of life sleeping, getting paid to do what they hate (that’s why they pay you) and watching a glass screen.

This is the superior life in the age of progress and truth. One thing is certain—if there is a purpose to life it is to be entertained. To experience different roles and to watch others do the same.

With all of the rhetoric and belief in the world there is one thing we most certainly all agree on, regardless of culture, religion, or science or time. Do you know what that is, this universal, primary reality?

All photos 5/30/20

Is The Madman a Natural Phenomenon?

Many of the trolley problems use the term “madman,” and there have been many throughout history. They disrupt peaceful society and take lives of the good and the bad. It matters not to them until they are cornered by special forces and turn to jello.

In my lifetime there have been many—Chairman Mao, Pol Pot, Sadam, Ho Chi Minh, the list goes on, with Hitler typically topping the list of evil (before my lifetime) It is natural to feel anger at such individuals—men of pure, egotistical power without regard for any other points of view, especially “lesser” ways of being.

There are those that consider this in an evolutionary pattern, such as the recipients of indigenous genocide are failed ways of being human, that they had their time. Now we must live in the “real world” of technology and embrace its conformity, whether you like it or not, you are. —”Societies have ended and their members died in droves because they didn’t have the knowledge we know today,” ie; they were not as intelligent or advanced as we are. Looking at some of the structures they left behind, there’s a good chance many of them died off because they were smarter than we are. We seem to be headed that way too.

As for nature and the madman, Hitler and his ilk are every bit a natural phenomenon—as is a tsunami. And the followers of such are just as much a problem

In Perfect Harmony

Turns out the way, the truth, and the life, is really the half way, the half truth, and a half a life—and it meddles with nature, a serious setback.

Holding to faith as the pinnacle of religious virtue, it has created a great famine of original thought and stunted the collective growth of the species. But we were told it was so much more than it is, which is fine if you never examine any other ways of thinking, or being.

Even atheism with its functional, unlimited connection and hope for humanity—to grant every inhabitant of the planet equal asylum, surpasses religious morality with ethical behavior—simply a more natural, organic development based on fairness.

Religions in general have failed to accept nature as boss. But in the end, after all the information-gathering research, decisions are made by hunches, snap judgments from somewhere in the consciousness, and often against your own judgment. Hunches that have billions of people raising families and living in homes and going on holiday. To the pious skeptic regarding the natural man, isn’t this a testament to the effectiveness of nature and the brain? The more we try to fix the world and shoehorn religious ideals into the public forum, the more we have to look around and say, wow! everyone seems to be getting along just fine, with or without my belief. Nature is best left alone to do its thing. Be happy with that and leave it be—it’s a lot smarter than you think.

“It brings in to play innate and spontaneous intelligence by using it without forcing it. It is fundamental to both the Taoist and Confucian thought, that the natural man is to be trusted, and from their standpoint it appears that the western mistrust of human nature is a kind of schizophrenia”—Alan Watts

This point of view is that the brain is a fundamental organism of nature and is to be trusted without coercion, which is evidenced by the success of humanity—in spite of the various commandments and synthetic religious dogmas. Even the Native American traditions exemplified this process.

I am the walrus, 2020

Decisions Decisions—

Is it any wonder that on 3/16 that gods so-loved elected leader has somehow ruined the economy and simultaneously retained the backing of his voters? God is that good.

The decisions being made by our elected leaders are far more devastating than the corona virus.

Now, the way I see it, we will prolong the pandemic into the months ahead instead of letting it run its course.

Its only just begun…

Credit—Yahweh!

If scientists find a way to fight pathogens made by God, thank god, however sacrilegious and faithless it is to interfere with gods plan.

If one casts a hurricane into another (apparently less righteous) neighborhood in the name of Jesus, thank god.

A man fell 40 stories while washing windows in New York City and survived by landing on his best friend, who also fell and was killed. God saved his life, therefore, god is great. It’s a miracle. The man said, “I know god now has a purpose for me”. After 20 or so surgeries, god healed him and now he is back to work.

A friend of mine has a horse that came down with a rare form of colic that is often fatal. After a week at the vet the horse is now home, but all along the way they requested Facebook prayers and documented every miracle during the healing process, which just happened to coincide with the veterinary care and medicine he received. But the miracle is now documented to give glory to Jesus—all the while in Mexico, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Indonesia, Poland and China… a million horses were farm raised to slaughter. WTF? Apparently god loves the one and really doesn’t give a rats ass about the ninety nine.

In people terms, god has his only begotten, his one son worthy of all his devotion. The rest are merely adopted and will never be worthy of all his love. He merely tolerates us and allows us breath. The only reason he doesn’t kill us all now is tolerance, not love. But, according to prophecy that will change too.

The Source of Morality

Forging more self discipline and restraint than any supposed morality dispensed by god, humans refrain because of what others will think—and will even claim to believe in god for the same reason.

Morality among mankind is nothing more than consensual dance of personal opinion inside a framework of what societies are collectively willing to tolerate, evolved into fairness bit by bit through trial and error, cause and effect, fear of exclusion (and indoctrination, of course)

Skirting religions own morality, “sin” is still committed in private as it always has been, where few reveal what they do alone (in the sole presence of their god) proves they really don’t believe any of it.

Not to place any blame on them for being human, but for pretending to be much more obedient than they are—because of what their fellow believers might see of what lies below the superficial piety and smiles, while inside the anxieties of endless failure eats away at their soul.

The church has quite a racket going, for who can change their consciousness without even knowing what that is, especially by way of commandment and threat? Revolving door repentance, penance, payments and guilt never cease the failures of an artificial morality no one can meet?

Autumn on the mount 8/28/19

Evolution—From Hunter/Gatherer to Fat

Our food is now served on a plate with very little caloric effort on our part (and we wonder how we got so fat) We love the gadgets and endless, idle entertainment while unavoidably hanging on to a genetic past that doesn’t mix well with this sedentary way of life.

Obesity and diabetes (among others) are epidemics. Our bodies have not changed over the last 300 years to keep pace with endless sugar and foreign foods filled to the brim with calories—while Americans sit. Sit for work, sit for play, sit for worship, and sit to travel—proudly sharing a Fitbit status for simply moving of what used to be normal behavior. The hardest part of a normal day may be opening packages.

Religion too, is now served on a plate and we just ingest it with no effort about it. We’re spiritually flat, out of tune with nature and gather our info from big-box, turn-key religious experts or their break-offs.

If any of it were reality and you believe your Bible, there is not one true believer on planet earth. For “greater signs than these follow them that believe“—Jesus. No matter how much you say you believe, you really don’t.

What of life used to be an adventure for each new child, an exploration of the world before us, is now doled-out cookie-cutter style epidemic spiritual and physical sedation from birth to death, with our own intuitive, individual attuning suppressed or hereticized by those same religions that offer nothing but hope. No results, no growth, no bliss, while pretending to be happy in this way of life until it kills us.

The promised enlightenment now tips scales on stagnation and stress from endlessly pretending to be happy. But really, pharmaceutical stats don’t lie. The most religious segments of the country are on the most prescription. Quite possibly the most unhealthy, longest living, over-medicated society in the history of the world. Happy, happy, happy. Have Xanax—and a soda.

Perceptions In Reality—A Walk on the Beach

Competition amongst the gods we imagine leaves an ominous gap in interpretation of existence, nature, and purpose.

Join me along the pier for a quiet mid-week stroll. See the snow-capped mountains in the distance while the gentle waves lap against the pilings. Feel the warmth of the sun washing ashore in a whispering, summery breeze, watching an orca, otter, and bottle-nose dolphin frolicking around a piece of large, weathered driftwood. One might call this a spiritual experience. I may say—god is magnificent; or, the creator certainly knew what he was doing, perhaps, pleased with his creation. We could all agree that together, we saw all those things and experienced them in an emotional, or inspirational way. Beauty is a stimulant that we all appreciate. It stimulates our senses (and hormones) while rendering thoughts of contentment. One thing we would all concede in our discussion is we saw a whale, a dolphin, an otter, and breathtaking scenery.

A discussion might follow; god is great, the master creator, followed by nature is amazing—obviously the god of love made this for us—while the scientist mind may imagine eons of selfish genes, double helixes, cataclysms, and the intricacies of diverse life that evolved from the primordial ooze over millions of centuries in different ecosystems and evolutions.

One of these ideas can be proven.

At once, without warning, the whale thrashes the otter into pieces, shaking it violently, tossing it high above the surf, then swallows it nearly whole.

The excitement stimulates the immediate ecology, and a passing salmon is chomped and swallowed without chewing by the dolphin. Reason would immediately favor the scientist. The religious could then pull-start their apologetic motors whirling about higher purposes, the ways of god are mysterious, or god knows best.

The facts suggest that differing neurologies and experiences create vastly different interpretations and perceptions of everything we view. All of us are different, and that is obvious we create our own belief. Some desire a creator (or succumb to the idea) from their training and influence, then manufacture an ideal that suits their purpose, adding personal touches to make sense of the senseless.

Each congregation has as many beliefs as there are people. Take away the churches, and the same would be true. It is you—not god that has generates purpose. I create my own—the believer inherits purpose through conformity and lives a life of pseudo-reality—by choice. And the evidence that shows how hard it is to escape your past indoctrinations.

Butterflies

I don’t know a lot about butterflies, but observing these in Panama I was touched by how aware they are of me, and also others in their color. They play with each other so much, and I don’t recall seeing that much in the states, although not a lot of them in Washington.